Morocco-EU fisheries agreement: European Court orders EU to respect international law

SPS16/02/2019 - 09:13

Strasbourg, February 16, 2019 (SPS) - The European Court reiterated in a ruling Tuesday, on the day of the European Parliament’s vote on the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement, illegally including the occupied Sahrawi territories, the inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to exercise their right to self-determination, calling on the European Union to comply with the rules of the international law linking the European Union (EU) to Morocco.

Morocco’s jubilation to the European Parliament’s vote on the EU-Morocco fisheries agreement extended to Western Sahara has been very short, a ruling of the European Court, of which APS obtained a copy, has come to give a foretaste to the legal incidents to which this text will inevitably succumb.

The judges of the European Court pointed out in a ruling clearly and accurately the Sahrawi people’s inalienable right to self-determination.

This decision came on the day when the European Parliament backed an agreement contrary to the decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) of December 2016 and February 2018.

The ruling includes the appeal lodged by the Polisario Front to quash the decision of EU Council of 16 April 2018, authorizing the opening of negotiations with Morocco to alter EU-Morocco fisheries agreement and conclude its implementation agreement. (SPS)